Clapper: U.S. shutdown 'a dreamland' for foreign spy services

10/2/13 10:39 AM EDT

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday that the partial government shutdown—which has led to the furlough of about 70% of civilians at U.S. intelligence agencies—is creating a field day for foreign intelligence services to recruit cash-strapped Americans.

"This is a dreamland for foreign intelligence services to recruit," Clapper said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Clapper also said the budget stalemate was having a serious impact on U.S. intelligence agencies' ability to guard against threats to national security.

"I’ve never seen anything like this," he said. "From my view, I think this—on top of sequestration...seriously damages out ability to protect the security and safety of this nation and its citizens....This is not just a beltway issue. This affect our global capability."

The ranking Republican on the panel, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, said he was puzzled by reports that 72% of intelligence agency civilian workers have been furloughed as non-essential.

"The intelligence community either needs better lawyers who can make big changes to the workforce or are you over-employing in those areas?" he asked. "It can't be that 70% of the intelligence community is being furloughed and we’re still able to meet our national security responsibilities."

Clapper said the law only allows civilian workers to be kept at work if their work addresses "an imminent threat to life or property."

"Our applying that standard is what results across the board in furloughing roughly 70%," he said. "I think that will change if this drags on."

National Security Agency director Gen. Keith Alexander said his agency has kept people at work on the most significant terrorism threats and at supporting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but has furloughed those focused on other areas.

"This has impacted us very hard," Alexander said. "Our nation needs people like this and the way we treat them is to tell them, 'You need to go home because we cant afford to pay you. We can’t make a deal here.'"